Phillipsburg Schools Adopt Pared-down Tax Increase

March 25, 1986|by JACK KRAFT, The Morning Call

A 1986-87 school budget with a property tax increase of 4.2 cents per $100 of assessed value - less than one-third of the increase projected just last month - was approved unanimously by the Phillipsburg Board of Education last night for submission to town voters.

The budget, if approved in its current form, would set the tax rate at $1.631 per $100 of assessed value, up from the current $1.589. That translates to a $21 tax increase for a property with an assessed value of $50,000.

When the budget was first introduced in January, it carried a 9.4-cent tax increase. Last month, that figure ballooned to 13.1 cents when figures from the New Jersey Department of Education showed a reduction in aid to the Phillipsburg School District.

But Superintendent Peter J. Merluzzi last night said the district received word March 10 that more state aid would be forthcoming, and that - coupled with spending cuts - allowed the increase to be sliced to 4.2 cents.

Merluzzi's budget message to the board said, "Prior to our initial budget submission on January 13, 1986, a total of $164,400 was cut from the budget. This presentationshows an additional reduction of $67,800 plus an increase of $115,756 in state aid."

At last night's special meeting to vote on the budget, Merluzzi said the smaller tax increase is "a much more realistic picture than where we were before."

"I'm not proud of a tax increase, and I'm not proud to have one," Merluzzi said, "but it is our obligation to provide quality education within the means of the community." He said the proposed budget "gives an indication we've tried to do that."

The roughly $14-million budget includes the current expense, capital and debt service budgets, but only the first two will go before voters April 15.

The current expense budget is nearly $13.3 million, including federal and state aid. It is $798,480, or 6.4 percent, higher than this year. The capital budget totals $330,740, which is 3.7 percent higher. The debt service budget is $245,208, a 3.7 percent reduction over this year.

The tax increase, if approved, would be the first in the district since 1983-84. The tax rate was cut by a combined 10.6-cents per $100 in last two years, and Merluzzi said that even with the new increase tacked on, the tax rate still would be 6 cents lower than it was four years ago.

"There are very few places around that can show you that kind of a pattern - very few," he said.

Emphasizing that the budget is "extremely tight" where personnel are concerned, Merluzzi last night said, "This is not one of those years where you have latitude in salaries."

Noting that he anticipates two retirements which have not yet been confirmed, he added, "Banking on two retirements is a gamble at its best."

Asked after the meeting about the widely varying tax increases mentioned during the past two months, Merluzzi responded, "It is so hard (to establish) when you don't know what you'll end up with (from the state)."

The voters in Phillipsburg have approved the last two budgets, when tax reductions were proposed. But they have a long-standing record of rejecting the budgets when tax increases are put forward.

If the proposed spending plan is rejected, it would be up to Town Council and the Board of Education to settle on an acceptable figure. If the district does not agree with the town, it can appeal to the state Education Commissioner.